If you are any kind of blogger than you have probably heard of Google Adsense, the pay-per-click advertisement program. It’s a service us bloggers all dream of making millions with after hearing success stories by blogger elites like Steve Pavlina and Darren Rowse.
I know when I first started blogging I spent hours upon hours experimenting with different ad placements to find what looked best. Adsense was what blogging was all about. Just keep writing bullshit and keep your fingers crossed that someone will click your ad and you will make another 25 cents. Stay persistent and then in a couple of months you’ll be making a living online! Right?!
Of course, as any long-time blogger will tell you, this isn’t exactly how things work. Successful blogging is not about jamming ads down your readers throats. In fact, Adsense overload is often a fantastic way to scare off potential readers and make sure they never ever visit your site again.
It’s a sad but true fact that a lot of so-called “online entrepreneurs” think that ad spam and shoddy writing can be a sustainable business model. It’s not. In most cases it’s a business model that won’t even get you off the ground.
If you have a good keyword and you rank high on some Google searches, then you may rack in a hundred or so dollars a month. But you probably won’t make enough to live off of it.
Anyway, you probably already know this stuff. You already know that real business is about building real relationships and creating real value. And I want you to know that I haven’t forgotten this – even though I’ve recently added a Google Ad to my sidebar.
I don’t want this site to ever be littered with pop-up ads and spam. I will never sell my readers out like that. However, a Google Ad or two can still have integrity, right?
Over the past few months I had eliminated all ads on this site. I wanted to focus on quality content instead, with the hopes that I will soon create a product to sell. However, even though I am desperate for money, I don’t want to rush my product. That wouldn’t be fair to people who actually enjoy my writing.
So, I am taking a step back. I’m not ready to create a product yet, I still need to focus on making this site the best it can be. I need to focus on content and relationships. Not rushing some half-assed e-book so that I can sell it 50 times at $10. I need to think more long-term than that.
That doesn’t change the fact that I also need money. That means picking up any chunk change that I can get.
Thus, I am resurrecting Google Ads on some of my blogs. Don’t hate me for it. I will try to keep it as minimal as possible.